Over the past two centuries sports have emerged into a hobby that a majority of the population takes part in. As the love for sports continues to grow the competition seems to be increasing as well. The expectation for athletes to perform at their very best, by either themselves, their parents or coaches, is extremely high. Along with high expectations comes much controversy over the fact that adolescent sports can cause mental health issues. There is evidence proven that over time the mental heath issues in adolescent athletes have increased since the beginning of sports. Several political ideas have been put into place, such as laws on concussions, that could help resolve the current issue of increasing mental health in athletes. As we see an increase of mental health issues in sports, the way they are and have been affecting athletes in the past are considered to be left untreated. Over the past 100 years the NCAA, the most populated sports organization in the United States, has thousands of athletes come and go through all sports programs.
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Including a Michigan football player who suffered from depression but, did not realize the symptoms until the effects on him were so great that he could no longer handle himself. The new divorce of his parents, a brand new home at college, and the expectation to play college football at a Division 1 school was all too much for Heininger. Over the period of his freshman year Heininger experienced signs of mental health issues, such as eating disorders, anxiety, mood swings, but most apparent depression. Heininger did not feel the need to seek help with his condition, and therefore suffered from these mental health issues for much longer than he should have. In the article “Mind, Body and Sport: How Being Injured Affects Mental Health” Putukian explains how mental health is an issue with athletes in every level. Injuries are part of any sport you play, they are unavoidable (Putukian), and because they are unavoidable many athletes have a hard time dealing with the fact they are taken away from their sport for a period of time. The athletes may have an involuntary emotional reaction to the the injury they suffered leaving them with anxiety, eating disorders or even depressed. Putukian explains that “How student-athletes respond to injury may differ, and there is no predictable sequence or reaction” (Putukian). She gives examples, such as the one of Heininger from Michigan, of how each mental health issue may further impact the athlete, and that there are ways to minimize greater issue than the initial problem. Every sport suffers from loss of players due to injury or health issues at some point during the season, and everyone know that it is no fun missing out on the sport you love to play. There has been laws put in place by The Traumatic Brain Injury Legislation that has laws consisting of regulations and requirements that have to met in order to keep all the athletes safe, and in the best possible condition they can be in. Concussions are the most common leading severe sports injury, and with concussions come watching from the sidelines. As stated before not being able to participate in the sport causes mental health issues related differently to every athlete. Each state has a slightly different law to reduce or limit
Including a Michigan football player who suffered from depression but, did not realize the symptoms until the effects on him were so great that he could no longer handle himself. The new divorce of his parents, a brand new home at college, and the expectation to play college football at a Division 1 school was all too much for Heininger. Over the period of his freshman year Heininger experienced signs of mental health issues, such as eating disorders, anxiety, mood swings, but most apparent depression. Heininger did not feel the need to seek help with his condition, and therefore suffered from these mental health issues for much longer than he should have. In the article “Mind, Body and Sport: How Being Injured Affects Mental Health” Putukian explains how mental health is an issue with athletes in every level. Injuries are part of any sport you play, they are unavoidable (Putukian), and because they are unavoidable many athletes have a hard time dealing with the fact they are taken away from their sport for a period of time. The athletes may have an involuntary emotional reaction to the the injury they suffered leaving them with anxiety, eating disorders or even depressed. Putukian explains that “How student-athletes respond to injury may differ, and there is no predictable sequence or reaction” (Putukian). She gives examples, such as the one of Heininger from Michigan, of how each mental health issue may further impact the athlete, and that there are ways to minimize greater issue than the initial problem. Every sport suffers from loss of players due to injury or health issues at some point during the season, and everyone know that it is no fun missing out on the sport you love to play. There has been laws put in place by The Traumatic Brain Injury Legislation that has laws consisting of regulations and requirements that have to met in order to keep all the athletes safe, and in the best possible condition they can be in. Concussions are the most common leading severe sports injury, and with concussions come watching from the sidelines. As stated before not being able to participate in the sport causes mental health issues related differently to every athlete. Each state has a slightly different law to reduce or limit